I am brewing again. I just got back to this after the disappointment of a bad batch last Spring. The bad batch was caused by a combination of poor sanitation and old yeast that took an extra day to start. So I am doing things a bit different this time. I am starting the yeast a couple of days early.
Look at this! This is really cool.
That is my new Erlenmeyer Flask from the Beer Store. I have a mini-wort in it to kick start the yeast before I pitch it into my next batch of beer. Truth is, I could do this same thing in a Mason jar, but, c’mon…. “Mason Jar” versus “Erlenmeyer Flask“. You choose.
While I was at it, I cracked my own Chocolate Malt by hand this time because the mill at the Beer Store is set to “Pulverize”, and that leaves too much crud from the grains in my brew. Here is the chocolate malt:
Yum. That is malted barley that has been roasted until it is dark. It is what makes the black beer black.
So, lacking a proper grain mill, what do you use to crack the grains?
A beer bottle. Seems fair.
Putting the grains between that hard glass bottle and the hard quartz counter top makes short work of the grain. Here it is cracked.
Is that cool or what? Here is a closer view.
That looks delicious….!!
Well, OK, it looks like squashed roaches, but to a Beer Guy it looks pretty good.
Watch this space for some more beer pictures.